美女

Chinese

		beautiful pretty lovely	woman girl
trad. (美女)		美	女
simp. #(美女)		美	女

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): měinǚ

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄟˇ ㄋㄩˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mei⁵ neoi⁵
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mî-ńg
• Eastern Min (BUC): mī-nṳ̄
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): bí-lú / bí-lír / bí-lí

  (Teochew, Peng'im): mui² neng²

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵me-gniu

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: měinǚ [Phonetic: méinǚ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄟˇ ㄋㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: měinyǔ
    • Wade–Giles: mei³-nü³
    • Yale: měi-nyǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: meeineu
    • Palladius: мэйнюй (mɛjnjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /meɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: mei⁵ neoi⁵
    • Yale: méih néuih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mei⁵ noey⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: méi⁵ nêu⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mei̯¹³ nɵy̯¹³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mî-ńg
    • Hakka Romanization System: mi´ ng`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: mi¹ ng³
    • Sinological IPA: /mi²⁴ ŋ̍³¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: mī-nṳ̄
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi³³⁻³⁵ nˡy³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bí-lú
    • Tâi-lô: bí-lú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: byluo
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ lu⁴¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei): /bi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ lu⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bí-lír
    • Tâi-lô: bí-lír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bi⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ lɯ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bí-lí
    • Tâi-lô: bí-lí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bylie
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ li⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou, Taipei): /bi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ li⁵³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: mui² neng²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: múi nṳ́ng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mui⁵²⁻³⁵ nɯŋ⁵²⁻²¹/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁵me-gniu
    • MiniDict: 'me^去 nyu
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²'me-nyy
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /me³³ n̠ʲy⁴⁴/

Noun

美女

1. beautiful woman; beauty; lovely lady

   美女與野獸／美女与野兽  ―  měinǚ yǔ yěshòu  ―  beauty and the beast

2. A polite term of address to any woman: miss; ma'am; honey

Synonyms

• (beautiful woman):

• 佳人 (jiārén)
• 佳麗／佳丽 (jiālì) (literary)
• 出水芙蓉 (chūshuǐfúróng) (figurative)
• 嫭 (hù) (literary)
• 嬌／娇 (jiāo)
• 紅顏／红颜 (hóngyán) (literary, figurative)
• 美人 (měirén)
• 行雨 (xíngyǔ) (literary, figurative)
• 靚女／靓女 (chiefly Cantonese)
• 麗人／丽人 (lìrén) (literary)

 

Dialectal synonyms of 美女 (“beautiful woman”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		美女, 美人, 佳人, 佳麗, 麗人, 紅顏, 嬋娟
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		美女, 美人, 佳人
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	美人兒
	Taiwan	美女
	Singapore	美女
Cantonese	Guangzhou	靚女
	Hong Kong	靚女
	Taishan	靚女
	Kaiping (Chikan)	靚女
	Dongguan	靚女
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	靚女
	Singapore (Guangfu)	靚女
Hakka	Meixian	標緻妹仔, 靚妹仔, 靚女
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	靚女
Southern Min	Xiamen	媠查某
	Xiamen (Tong'an)	媠查某
	Quanzhou	媠查某
	Anxi	媠查某
	Zhangzhou	媠查某
	Zhao'an	媠查某
	Singapore (Hokkien)	媠查某, 俏母
	Manila (Hokkien)	媠查某
	Shantou	雅諸娘
	Jieyang	雅諸娘, 雅儂
	Leizhou	顯娘
	Wenchang	靚母
	Singapore (Hainanese)	靚母
Zhongshan Min	Shaxi (Longdu)	靚妹

• (term of address): 女生 (nǚshēng), 女士 (nǚshì), various female relations such as 阿姨 (āyí)

Coordinate terms

• 帥哥／帅哥 (shuàigē)

Derived terms

• 網路美女／网路美女
• 美女如雲／美女如云
• 美女破舌
• 美女簪花

 

Related terms

• 美男子 (měinánzǐ)
• 美少女 (měishàonǚ)
• 美少年 (měishàonián)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
美	女
び Grade: 3	じょ Grade: 1
kan’on

Etymology

/bidjo/ → /bid͡ʑjo/ → /biʑo/

From Middle Chinese 美女 (MC mijX nrjoX). The kan'on, so likely a later borrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) び​じょ [bíꜜjò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [bʲiʑo̞]

Noun

美(び)女(じょ) • (bijo) ^{←びぢよ (bidyo)?}

1. a beautiful girl or woman, a beauty

   Synonym: 美人 (bijin, “beautiful woman”, literally “beautiful person”)

   Antonyms: 悪女 (akujo, “ugly woman; wicked or evil woman”), 醜女 (buonna, shikome, shūjo, “ugly woman”)

   美(び)女(じょ)と野(や)獣(じゅう)

   Bijo to Yajū

   Beauty and the Beast

See also

• 眠(ねむ)れる森(もり)の美(び)女(じょ) (Nemureru Mori no Bijo): Sleeping Beauty
• 美(び)男(なん) (binan): a beautiful man
• 美(び)少(しょう)女(じょ) (bishōjo): a beautiful girl

Korean

Hanja in this term
美	女

Noun

美女 • (minyeo) (hangeul 미녀)

1. Hanja form^? of 미녀 (“a beautiful woman, a beauty”).

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
美	女

Noun

美女

1. chữ Hán form of mĩ nữ/mỹ nữ (“a beautiful woman, a beauty”).